Cat hitches 80 mile ride on refrigerated lorry

Bellzie the cat, who was found on a refrigerated lorry. Picture: Contributed

AN adventurous cat spent New Year’s Day as a stowaway in the back of a refrigerated lorry being driven on an 80 mile trip between Lanarkshire and Dundee, it was revealed today.

And the Scottish SPCA has now launched an appeal to find the owner of the small feline which is now in the care of the charity’s Lanarkshire Animal Rescue and Rehoming Centre.

A spokeswoman for the SSPCA said the cat, now named Bellzie, had somehow managed to get inside the 45ft refrigerated lorry on New Year’s Day.

The charity was alerted on Thursday, 2 January, when the lorry driver, Derek Purdom, handed the young female cat into the Rescue and Rehoming Centre in Hamilton.

The spokeswoman said: “Mr Purdom believes the cat got into the back of his lorry while it was being loaded at Yearsley’s yard on Belgrave Street, Bellshill. He then drove to Dundee where the lorry was unloaded and the unexpected cargo was discovered.

“As Derek works night-shift he very kindly fed, watered and cared for the cat until he could take her to the Scottish SPCA’s Hamilton-based centre where she has been nicknamed Bellzie.”

Lorraine Alba, the centre’s Assistant Manager, said: “Bellzie is a lovely wee cat who’s around two years old and in great condition so it’s very likely she has simply wandered off from home and got herself in a spot of bother.

“She’s a very lucky girl as the driver told us that his lorry has a freezer section and if she had found her way into there then she would not have survived the journey.”

She continued: “Thankfully she was found in a separate compartment ensuring she was completely unharmed despite her curiosity getting the better of her. We’d very much like to reunite Bellzie with her owner but if no-one comes forward to claim her then we’ll find her a loving new home.”

Anyone who recognises Bellzie is being asked to call the Scottish SPCA Animal on 03000 999 999.